Lawyer Cross qualifying in Alberta
Mar 9th 2026 | 10:15 pm
#1
Thread Starter
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2026
Posts: 1
Lawyer Cross qualifying in Alberta
Hi everyone,
hope you’re well!
I’m an England & Wales qualified lawyer (5 PQE) and I’m looking into the possibility of moving to Canada and practising there. My partner is Canadian so the immigration side shouldn’t be an issue! If you’re a lawyer who didn’t end up equalising I’d also be keen to hear what you ended up doing if you did something else!
From what I understand so far, the general route seems to be to apply to the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) for an assessment of my law degree and professional qualifications. After that, I expect I will have to complete several NCA exams. Once I have done that the next step seems to be Articling and doing admission programme?
That’s my broad understanding from the research I’ve done, but I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has actually gone through the process, particularly lawyers qualified in England & Wales.
A few things I’d love insight on:
Thanks in advance!
hope you’re well!
I’m an England & Wales qualified lawyer (5 PQE) and I’m looking into the possibility of moving to Canada and practising there. My partner is Canadian so the immigration side shouldn’t be an issue! If you’re a lawyer who didn’t end up equalising I’d also be keen to hear what you ended up doing if you did something else!
From what I understand so far, the general route seems to be to apply to the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) for an assessment of my law degree and professional qualifications. After that, I expect I will have to complete several NCA exams. Once I have done that the next step seems to be Articling and doing admission programme?
That’s my broad understanding from the research I’ve done, but I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has actually gone through the process, particularly lawyers qualified in England & Wales.
A few things I’d love insight on:
- How straightforward was the NCA assessment and exam process?
- How many exams were you required to take?
- Did you have to complete articling, or were there alternative pathways?
- How long did the whole process take in reality?
Thanks in advance!
Mar 11th 2026 | 1:07 am
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 13,402
From: South of Calgary
Re: Lawyer Cross qualifying in Alberta
My responses are below in red text.
Hi everyone,
hope you’re well!
I’m an England & Wales qualified lawyer (5 PQE) and I’m looking into the possibility of moving to Canada and practising there. My partner is Canadian so the immigration side shouldn’t be an issue! If you’re a lawyer who didn’t end up equalising I’d also be keen to hear what you ended up doing if you did something else!
From what I understand so far, the general route seems to be to apply to the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) for an assessment of my law degree and professional qualifications. After that, I expect I will have to complete several NCA exams. Once I have done that the next step seems to be Articling and doing admission programme?
That’s my broad understanding from the research I’ve done, but I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has actually gone through the process, particularly lawyers qualified in England & Wales.
A few things I’d love insight on:
Any experiences, advice, or things you wish you’d known beforehand would be hugely appreciated.
Yes. You can apply and write the exams where you are and, looking back, I wish that I had done that. You will simply need to arrange for an invigilator at your location. If you do that, you can hit the ground running when you get here. Bear in mind that, those that cannot get into a Canadian law school tend to head to Cardiff (don't ask me why) to get theirs, return and then go through the NCA process. I was actually asked during an interview if the reason why mine was from England was because I wasn't "good enough" to get into one in Canada! These were partners at one of the largest law firms in Canada.
I was sick of law when I arrived and I would have been more than happy to never practice again. However, everyone looked at my CV and simply said, "We can't afford to pay you a lawyer's salary." When I explained to them that I didn't expect them to, typically, that was the end of the interview. The average lawyer here is paid far more than the average lawyer in England and Wales and it is virtually impossible not to obtain one's law degree and pass the bar exam (I used to be an assessor on the CPLED course). The difficult bit here is getting into law school. Once that has been achieved, it's relatively plain sailing to a high income. Working for most governments pays higher amounts than working in the private sector at the associate level and, while partners do earn more at the larger firms, I wouldn't wish that life on my worst enemy.
If you are in any way competent you will do fine here, but the way they do things will have you tearing your hair out. However, that explains life in Canada in general.
Thanks in advance!
hope you’re well!
I’m an England & Wales qualified lawyer (5 PQE) and I’m looking into the possibility of moving to Canada and practising there. My partner is Canadian so the immigration side shouldn’t be an issue! If you’re a lawyer who didn’t end up equalising I’d also be keen to hear what you ended up doing if you did something else!
From what I understand so far, the general route seems to be to apply to the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) for an assessment of my law degree and professional qualifications. After that, I expect I will have to complete several NCA exams. Once I have done that the next step seems to be Articling and doing admission programme?
That’s my broad understanding from the research I’ve done, but I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has actually gone through the process, particularly lawyers qualified in England & Wales.
A few things I’d love insight on:
- How straightforward was the NCA assessment and exam process?
- How many exams were you required to take?
- Did you have to complete articling, or were there alternative pathways?
- How long did the whole process take in reality?
Any experiences, advice, or things you wish you’d known beforehand would be hugely appreciated.
Yes. You can apply and write the exams where you are and, looking back, I wish that I had done that. You will simply need to arrange for an invigilator at your location. If you do that, you can hit the ground running when you get here. Bear in mind that, those that cannot get into a Canadian law school tend to head to Cardiff (don't ask me why) to get theirs, return and then go through the NCA process. I was actually asked during an interview if the reason why mine was from England was because I wasn't "good enough" to get into one in Canada! These were partners at one of the largest law firms in Canada.
I was sick of law when I arrived and I would have been more than happy to never practice again. However, everyone looked at my CV and simply said, "We can't afford to pay you a lawyer's salary." When I explained to them that I didn't expect them to, typically, that was the end of the interview. The average lawyer here is paid far more than the average lawyer in England and Wales and it is virtually impossible not to obtain one's law degree and pass the bar exam (I used to be an assessor on the CPLED course). The difficult bit here is getting into law school. Once that has been achieved, it's relatively plain sailing to a high income. Working for most governments pays higher amounts than working in the private sector at the associate level and, while partners do earn more at the larger firms, I wouldn't wish that life on my worst enemy.
If you are in any way competent you will do fine here, but the way they do things will have you tearing your hair out. However, that explains life in Canada in general.
Thanks in advance!
